Sri Lanka’s navy responded to a distress call from an Iranian warship, but found only oil slicks, empty life rafts and the bodies of sailors in the water after a U.S. torpedo strike sank the vessel in the Indian Ocean.
The Sri Lankan navy sent ships and planes on a rescue mission after receiving a distress signal from Iran’s IRIS Dena, which had 180 people on board, the country’s foreign minister, Vijitha Herath, told Parliament on Wednesday.
When Sri Lanka’s navy arrived, there was no sign of the ship, “only some oil patches and life rafts,” navy spokesman Cmdr. Buddhika Sampath said. “We found people floating on the water.”
Crews recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people, Sri Lanka’s navy said.
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Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said earlier Wednesday morning during a briefing at the Pentagon that the Iranian vessel was a “prize ship” of Iran.
“An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” Hegseth said. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war, back when we were still the War Department. We are fighting to win.”
A single Mark 48 torpedo was used to sink the warship, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said at the briefing.
Those rescued from the wreckage were taken to a hospital in Galle, a town on Sri Lanka’s southern coast, Sampath said, adding that bodies were also being recovered.
One of those rescued is in critical condition, seven are receiving emergency treatment and others are being treated for minor injuries, a health official in Sri Lanka said.
In a separate incident, Hegseth said the U.S. Navy sank another Iranian warship, the Soleimani, a corvette class missile ship, in the Strait of Hormuz near Iranian shores.
The ship was named for Qasem Soleimani, an Iranian general who served in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps until he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in January 2020 during President Donald Trump’s first term.
“The Iranian navy rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf. Combat ineffective, decimated, destroyed, defeated. Pick your adjective,” Hegseth said. “In fact, last night we sunk their prize ship, the Soleimani. Looks like POTUS got him twice. Their navy, not a factor. Pick your adjective. It is no more.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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